This invention relates to a small boat and more particularly to an improved steering mechanism and support therefor for such a watercraft.
A type of boat that has experienced much recent popularity is a small watercraft that is designed primarily to accomodate a single rider and which is powered by a jet drive. These boats fall into two general types, the first of which accomodate the rider in a standing fashion and thus approximate a powered surfboard and the second in which the rider is primarily seated during the watercraft operation. Each type of boat has its following and these boats have been designed so that either of them can be ridden in the other fashion. That is, some of the surfboard type boats may be ridden with the rider in a seated position and some of the more conventional type may be operated with the rider in a standing position. In order to accomodate this variation in riding position it has been proposed to provide a pivoted handle that supports the steering mechanism. Such pivoted handles, however, complicate the structure and give rise to inaccessability of certain of the other components. Even with the type of watercraft that is designed to be ridden in a seated position, the mounting for the steering mechanism can interfere with the accessability of some of the mechanical components.
For balance with this type of watercraft, it has been the practice to position the engine forwardly in the watercraft and have the rider's area located at a rear location. Because of this, the steering mechanism tends to lie over the engine compartment and thus it is difficult with the prior art type of constructions to afford access to the engine compartment.
This type of watercraft also is highly maneuverable and, as such, there is always the likelihood that the rider may be displaced from the watercraft. Certain of the boats of this type have been designed so as to accomodate such displacement of the rider either through self-righting, automatic engine killing or the like. However, it is important to ensure that the watercraft will be easy for the rider to right when he wants to re-enter the watercraft after being displaced from it.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved small boat.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a small boat with a mechanism which permits steering from any of a plurality of riding positions.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a steering mechanism for a small boat of this type that does not interfere with the access to the engine compartment.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an arrangement for a small boat wherein the stability of the boat and the ability return it to an upright position if it becomes capsized is facilitated.